Dodge Power Wagon - Off Road Truck

The Power Wagon has no problem...        read full caption The Power Wagon has no problem keeping its cool in intense heat when towing or crawling on the trail. Check out the massive radiator, transmission, and oil coolers under the hood.

The front suspension has specially...        read full caption The front suspension has specially tuned Power Wagon coils, upper and lower control arms, and Bilstein gas shocks. The Power Wagon sits about 1.5 inches higher than a stock Ram.

The front and rearends are from American Axle. The front diff is open until locked electronically, while the rear is a helical-gear limited-slip until locked electronically. The front and rear lockers are two of the main reasons the Power Wagon is the most capable out-of-the-box off-road truck available today.

The suspension is Dodge's proven coil/link design up front with Power Wagon-specific coils and tuned leaf packs in the back. Bilstein high-pressure gas shocks handle damping chores and are better than the stock shocks on other Rams. Off-road, the Power Wagon's ride is controlled but surprisingly supple considering that it's a 3/4-ton truck. The sway bar can be disconnected electronically for great articulation in the dirt. It will automatically reconnect at higher speeds in case you forget and pull out on the highway without pushing the sway-bar button.

Dodge's hydroformed boxed frame is very strong. Put the front tire on a big rock and get the rear tire in the air - the bed no longer flexes into the cab. This is a great leap forward from trucks of just a few years ago that had flexy frames and almost always had dents in their cabs from their beds hitting them during off-roading. The Power Wagon also has skidplates under the truck that affords protection in the rocks. The 12,000-pound Warn winch behind the front bumper will get us, or our friends, out of trouble.

We're looking forward to spending time with our Power Wagon. We've already taken it off-road and can report that it performs flawlessly. On-road performance is great too. The Power Wagon's comfort and driveability makes it a pleasure to drive on-highway. We took our first trip in the truck to Moab, towing a JK on a flatbed trailer. With only 200 miles on the odometer, the truck returned an average of 12 mpg - not bad considering we were towing and, once in Moab, using the Power Wagon to explore trails. It also had plenty of power towing, enabling to stay at the speed limit over mountain passes. Watch for our reports on how our long-term Power Wagon performs in upcoming issues of 4WD&SU.

The Power Wagon shares its...        read full caption The Power Wagon shares its complete and legible instrumentation with the rest of the Ram lineup. All Power Wagons come with the Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) that we think is a really bad idea, even though it's mandated by federal law. You have to inflate the tires to 60 psi to keep the TPMS from flashing a warning light on the dash and sounding a chime. The Power Wagon has a light load switch that allows you to deflate the rear tires to 45 psi, but the fronts still have to be 60 psi. Not good.	The locker switch allows you...        read full caption The locker switch allows you to lock the rear only, or front and rear. This only operates in Low range. We think that the switch should operate front, rear, or both lockers in High and Low range. The sway-bar disconnect switch is at the bottom. The sway-bar disconnect works in High or Low range 4WD under 20 mph.	The dash and interior of the...        read full caption The dash and interior of the Power Wagon are very nice and ergonomically comfortable. All switches and controls are easy to reach and understand. Our fully optioned Power Wagon came with seat heaters - something we scoffed at until the temperatures were single-digit outside.